The present invention relates to a device for holding medical instruments. More particularly, the present invention relates to a laparoscope holder that permits quick release and multi-directional adjustment of a laparoscope.
The use of laparoscopes in abdominal and pelvic surgery is popular because laparoscopes allow the surgeon to perform complex minimally invasive surgical techniques while significantly reducing a patient's pain and discomfort resulting from large incisions made during common open surgery. The laparoscopic surgeon needs to have unobstructed mobility about the operating table during laparoscopic surgery procedures. However, the laparoscopic surgeon's mobility is hampered because the surgeon must interact with the surgical assistant(s), the camera assistant, the anesthesiologist, the scrub nurse, and the circulator.
Another critical aspect during laparoscopic surgery is stability and adjustment of the laparoscope. A steady, fixed visual field is crucial to the success of the highly precise procedures used during laparoscopic surgery such as intracorporeal suturing. Typically, a camera assistant holds the laparoscope. Besides occupying precious space around the operating table, the camera assistant may cause problems if the assistant fatigues or anticipates surgical movements during complex surgical operations. To overcome these difficulties and increase the stability of the laparoscope image, a variety of mechanical and robotic clamping systems have been developed.
These systems typically consist of a positionable arm that has a gripping device for holding the laparoscope. The positionable arms are designed to mimic the configuration and function of the human arm. For example, some arms have pivotally connected sections (Minnesota Scientific, Inc., St. Paul, Minn.), flexible sections (Flex Bar Machine Corp., Islandia, N.Y.), and pneumatically adjustable pivotally connected sections (Aesculap, Burlingame, Calif.).
The gripping device should permit quick release and allow multi-directional adjustment of the laparoscope. The prior art devices fail to adequately perform these tasks. For example, the gripping device of the Flex Bar laparoscope holder arm is a C-shaped clip into which the laparoscope is clamped. This device fails to provide adequate support for the laparoscope. The gripper device on the arm has a complicated two-piece construction that is difficult to work with. In addition, none of the other prior art gripping devices allows for quick release and multi-directional adjustment of the laparoscope.